Volume 27, Issue 5 (7-2020)                   RJMS 2020, 27(5): 131-140 | Back to browse issues page

XML Persian Abstract Print


PhD Student of Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran. Email: b.pirnia@usc.ac.ir. , b.pirnia@usc.ac.ir
Abstract:   (3875 Views)
Background: The emergence of stimulants is a challenge in the field of addiction. Abuse of stimuli is associated with behavioral and psychological damage. From a biological point of view, methamphetamine use is associated with changes in plasma cortisol levels and subsequent psychological changes. Given the importance of the issue, many researchers have considered the need for psychological interventions to improve the quality of life of patients with substance abuse. Although in recent years we have witnessed the emergence of various therapies in the field of addiction; but we still see the failure of some patients in treatment programs, continuous abuse and high recurrence rates. Studies show that the condition of most addicts recurred after stopping treatment and generally about 50 to 60 percent of patients improved within 6 months and 80 percent of patients with a gap of 1 year after the end of treatment, began re-use of drugs again. One of the important components in the treatment of addiction is psychotherapy, which increases the consequences of treatment. One of the types of psychotherapy that can play an important role in the field of addiction is therapies focused on positive psychology, including wellbeing therapy, which originates from cognitive-behavioral therapy. Considering what has been said and contradictory findings on the effectiveness of wellbeing therapy, and considering the significant prevalence of stimulant use and its destructive effects on the individual, family and society, as well as considering the promising effects of positive therapies, including wellbeing therapy in the treatment of mood disorders and addictive indicators, the present study was conducted aimed to investigate the effectiveness of wellbeing therapy on psychological well-being index, optimist and life expectancy in Iranian men dependent on methamphetamine in the abstinence from use phase.
Methods: The present study was conducted in the form of a single-center randomized clinical trial (clinical trial registration code: TCTR20190506001). The data of the present study were collected during October to March 2013, using clinical interviews and self-report questionnaires. The statistical population of this study consisted of all men taking methamphetamine in the abstinence from use phase and living in Tehran, and they were in Verdich Camp for doing detoxification process. In this study, considering the one-sidedness of the test and taking the base of 𝚣 = 1.645, α = 0.05 and also the test power 1-β = 0.84, the sample size in each group was estimated to be 25 people. From the mentioned community, 50 participants were selected using random sampling and randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups (25 people in each group) using Excel Office software. In order to ensure the subjects' commitment to abstinence from use, participants' urine was randomly taken twice a week for one month and then once every 15 days and based on the assumed threshold of five hundred ng / ml and was analyzed using chromatographic method. Wellbeing therapy protocol was presented to the experimental group as a group for 12 sessions and each session lasted 50 minutes and the control group was placed on a waiting list. The two groups were evaluated in two rounds of pre-test and post-test by Ryff's Well-being therapy, shierer's optimist Questionnaire and snyder's hope Questionnaire. Data were analyzed by parametric t-test and analysis of covariance. All stages of the research were carried out after obtaining informed consent and based on the latest version of the Helsinki Declaration.
Results: In terms of cognitive demographic distribution, the subjects often had a education level above diploma (wellbeing therapy: 64%, control: 72%). In the age index, most of the subjects had an age index of less than 25 years (wellbeing therapy: 68%, control: 60%). In terms of job status component, the majority of participants in the treatment and control groups were unemployed (wellbeing therapy: 56%, control: 60%). In the financial status index, the majority of participants in both groups had an income of less than one million tomans per month (wellbeing therapy: 60%, control: 68%). The results showed that wellbeing therapy had a significant effect on improving psychological wellbeing indices with a confidence interval of 24.3 (16.75-31.85), optimist with a confidence interval of 19.71 (14.68-24.74) and hope with a confidence interval of 17.02 (11.56-22.48) (all p's < 0.01).
Conclusion: The present study was formed in order to change the view from the problem-oriented approach or psychological damage to the ability-building approach. The findings of this study confirm the research background on the effectiveness of positive therapies as an effective component in the process of recovery and abstinence from drug use. The findings of this study are consistent with a wide range of research backgrounds that have confirmed the effectiveness of wellbeing therapy in the treatment of emotional and mood disorders and increasing psychological wellbeing. Although similar to this study was not observed in terms of research dependent variables, but studies based on wellbeing therapy intervention have been conducted that indicate the effectiveness of this therapy.
The most important limitation of the present study can be considered the different records of hospitalization of patients in the camp. According to the research background, the transition from substance use to abstinence takes place through stages that can affect the mental processes and behavioral patterns of patients. It is suggested that in future studies, the criterion of time of abstinence should be considered as one of the entry criteria. Also, the mere use of self-report tools such as questionnaires, especially in certain areas such as addiction can be associated with the respondent bias, so it is suggested that biological markers be used in the evaluation of psychological indicators in the future studies. Conducting a randomized clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of wellbeing therapy in cocaine users could be a good route for future studies. Findings of this study can be associated with clinical applications in the context of prevention and treatment of stimulant addiction.
 
Full-Text [PDF 774 kb]   (570 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Research | Subject: Clinical Psychiatry

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.